Humbert humbles Alcaraz in Paris upset

Carlos Alcaraz will need to re-group for the ATP Finals within days after crashing out on Thursday at the Paris Masters 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to French spoiler Ugo Humbert to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals.

Second seed Alcaraz saved a match point in a raucous final deciding set at the Bercy arena against the home crowd favourite; the chair umpire had to repeatedly warn fans to calm down and maintain customary silence as things got out of hand in some of the tighter moments

Humbert avenged two losses to Spain’s Alcaraz and will aim to win his first Masters quarter-final after losing his first three.

He finished off victory on his second match point with a service winner after two and a quarter hours.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” the 15th seed said. “I’m super proud of myself..

“It was a crazy match, crazy atmosphere. I tried to do everything to win; it was a really big match.”

Humbert got away to a 5-0 lead in the first set as he dominated. But Alcaraz made a second-set recovery before Humbert fired his jet to take the third with 25 winners for the match.

“I was seeing the ball huge in the third set after having less energy in the second,” the winner said,

“The third set was all mental. I trusted myself in the big moments and did some great shots.”

Humbert will play for the semi-finals on Friday, facing Jordan Thompson after the Australian put out Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6 (5) with the frustrated Frenchman leaving his racquet in tatters on the court in defeat.